Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
ZSI Scientists Re-discover Crimson Horned Pheasant after 170 years from Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling District, WB
Kolkata, April 19, 2022
The Zoological Survey of India  scientists have re-discovered Satyr Tragopan or crimson horned pheasant in Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary, Darjeeling district of West Bengal after 170 years. This was reiterated by Director, ZSI, Smt Dhriti Banerjee in a statement today. She said, the rediscovery of Satyr Tragopan a pheasant bird after a period of 170 years from the landscape is encouraging news and as it indicates that the forested habitats are well preserved and effectively managed.
The male Satyr Tragopan  is one of the most beautiful birds in India and also one of the rarest and is best seen in Neora Valley National Park of Darjeeling district, though there are few in Singalila National Park also in the same district. Male Satyr’s are 68 cm and are a bright crimson red with white spots. Females are smaller and less conspicuous and brown in colour. Tragopans are often called “horned pheasants” because they display horn-like projections during courtship. Like other Tragopans, the Satyr is faced with habitat destruction and hunting pressure and is now considered to be near-threatened.
These birds reside in moist oak and rhododendron forests with dense undergrowth and bamboo clumps. They range from 2400 to 4200 metres in summer and 1800 metres in winter.
Smt Banerjee also stated that the PA is the house of a good number of melanistic  forms of Barking Deer and Common Leopard. According to her, the North Bengal region of West Bengal is rich in faunal diversity because of high-quality habitats and protection by the forest department. Apart from Singalila National Park, this small Protected Area- Senchal Wildlife Sanctuary is home to some of the top conservation priority species. She was proud to state that the long term study by ZSI scientists funded by the National Mission on Himalayan Studies has resulted in the documentation of 17 large and medium-sized mammals from the sanctuary.
This apart, the scientists have observed the presence of high abundance of melanistic barking deer and common leopard in the Protected Area  in comparison to nearby Singalila National Park, near Sandakphu.
A camera trap study conducted in the sanctuary between 2018-2020, revealed the presence of 17 species of such medium and large mammals. Of these animals, three have been categorised as vulnerable  and three as near threatened  by International Union for Conservation of Nature . Barking deer yielded the most number of camera captures followed by wild boar, large Indian civet, mainland serow, leopard cat, common leopard, Malayan porcupine etc. In addition to these, an abundance of melanistic morphs of two species were captured from the sanctuary, melanistic barking deer  and melanistic leopard .
It is to be mentioned that sighting of the satyr tragopan was first reported by Hickell in 1842, between the present Kurseong and Sonada region of Darjeeling district. In 1863, Jerdon and in 1933 Ingles reported the presence of the bird, locally called “munal” near Darjeeling at 7,000-8,000 feet and the present Singalila National Park.